Area teen's soccer career cooking

Kimberly Wong, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, February 12, 1995

SEVENTEEN-year-old Tiffany Roberts crammed correspondence courses into her busy summer so she could graduate early from high school and train full-time with the U.S. women's national soccer team. But before she departs this week for the team's training camp, she'll have to squeeze in one last-minute lesson.

"I don't know how to cook," Roberts said. "I'm going to have to cook my meals every night now. I'm asking my mom to hurry up and show me everything she knows about cooking in the next two weeks."

Who could blame Roberts for her lack of culinary expertise? The San Ramon teen has spent so much time on the soccer field she hasn't had too many opportunities to experiment in the kitchen. It's the small price she has paid to become the Bay Area's best girls high school soccer player.

At 16, Roberts became the youngest player on the national team. At Concord's Carondelet High, she was a three-time All-American and California Player of the Year in 1994. In her four years at Carondelet, she scored 85 goals and 50 assists to lead the Cougars to a 61-5-5 record.

Roberts' accomplishments are remarkable for such a young athlete. And now she will try to continue her success while living away from home for the first time.

In the next few weeks, Roberts will be without the comforts of her family and without her mom's home cooking. But armed with a brand new mini rice cooker (a gift from mom), Roberts feels she's ready to face the upcoming changes in her life.

"It's going to be exciting," Roberts said. "I'm going to be very independent. I'm going to be living in my own apartment with teammates."

Soon, Roberts and 23 other women will travel to Orlando, Fla., to prepare for this summer's FIFA World Championships in Sweden. Eighteen players will be selected to represent the U.S. in the June 5-18 tournament, which is the equivalent of the men's World Cup.

Roberts should have no problem making the cut after her impressive international play last summer. As one of the team's speedy midfielders, she helped the U.S. capture two major international tournaments last summer, first in the East Coast's Chiquita Cup, and then in the CONCACAF tournament that includes North and Central American teams.

"I just have to keep it up," Roberts said. "I have to play my best and I'll have a good chance at playing on the team. You always have to play your best no matter who you are on the team."

After the world championships, Roberts will make the transition into her first semester at the University of North Carolina in the fall. Roberts decided to play for the perennial NCAA champion Tar Heels after receiving a flood of scholarship offers from colleges across the nation.

North Carolina won the last nine national titles and 13 out of the last 14. But the Tar Heels' impressive record wasn't the only thing that appealed to Roberts.

"It was more because of the coach," Roberts said of North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance. "I really like Anson. I thought it was also the best way for me to improve and become a better player."

Dorrance, then the national team's coach, discovered Roberts more than a year ago and found a spot for her in the lineup. After playing for Dorrance's Tar Heels for a semester, Roberts will take time off so she can train for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where women's soccer will be a medal sport for the first time.

"It's going to be an awesome soccer environment," Roberts said of her upcoming 18 months of non-stop soccer.

"(The training) is going to be tough, but I want our team to go through this so we can win a world championship. That's our first goal, and then the Olympics."

National coach Tony DiCicco is confident Roberts can make a smooth transition into her life away from home and achieve her goals.

And with the nickname U.S. coaches have given Roberts, she can certainly take care of herself on the field.

"We call her the Little Animal," DiCicco said of Roberts, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 117 pounds.

"She's always around the ball and she's very tenacious. She's very fast and quick like a little animal."

Roberts' real test begins when she's on her own for the first time in her life. If she can find as much success in the kitchen as she has on the soccer field, she won't have too many worries. But just in case she can't find time to cook, DiCicco made one promise.

"We'll make sure she's eating well," DiCicco said.

"We'll check on her once in a while to make sure she's not wasting away to skin and bones." &lt;

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